1993: Falling Down (39th)

What else happened this year? Czechoslavakia broke up. There was also some trouble in Yugoslavia. Break-ups are always difficult.

What is the plot - in one sentence? A hard-working dad is having a bad day, and tries to get home to see his wife and kids, at any cost.

I don't have time, just spoil it for me? Trouble is, he's not a hard-working dad, he's an abusive lunatic. He heads to his 'family' despite them having a restraining order on him. He tries to make it there, leaving a trail of destruction behind him, but he's gunned down by an old detective on his... last day before retirement.

What is the meaning of the title?I have no fucking idea. He literally falls down from a pier at the movies end, but I think it's a metaphorical 'falling' of him from 'society'

He was told to 'get off my lawn' in this instance by some gangsters. He didn't like that, but he'd be happy to say the same to them if roles were reveresed. Here's the source.

  

Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? The whole thing is VERY of its time. Michael Douglas' character is an abusive husband, but doesn't get to slap his ex-wife around on screen, but he is shown to be abusive. So... that's something. Meanwhile the policeman, played by Robert Duvall, is utterly henpecked by his own wife.What a pair they are.

Any thoughts? I have a good mate who really likes this movie and always talks about it. After seeing this, hat is a concern. Michael Douglas, seemingly at the end of his tether, just gets out of his car which is stuck in traffic and heads through the city, picking fights and pointing out foibles of modern life.

However, I couldn't get whether he was 'pointing out things he hates about modern life' or just showing himself as an asshole. He holds guns to peoples heads, asking them rhetorical questions. Yeah that ought to get some genuine answers, Mike. From this vantage, it looks suspiciously like a Boomer rage: why can't I get a breakfast in a shitty fast food place when it's lunch time? Why is coca Cola so expensive now? Why are there so many beggars around? Why does everyone speak Spanish, I thought this was America? Why has my wife left me? He's just a Trump voter, before Trump voting was an outlet.

I also wasn't a fan of Robert Duvall's character or situation. He's a hen-pecked husband, retiring that day (!) who is being moved to Arizona against his will. We're also told that he's never once fired his gun in anger during his long career. You'll be as susprised as I was when that changes by the end. 

You'll be more surprised that he tells his wife to piss off, which ought to be a good alternative to the therapy / divorce that she needs. He also gets his job offered back to him by his boss, the same boss he told to fuck off live on a TV interview. I can only assume that at the end of this, he'll have to go to Arizona alone, as he'll have lost his job, and his wife is so fragile that she would have commit suicide by his 'outburst.'

The police force is another whole story. I guess because of the 90s, and I guess also because it's LA cops just a year or so after those riots, but they're a real pack of assholes. Aside from one friendly cop, who acts as the 'daughter' figure for Rob D, the rest are some real dicks. You'll be happy to hear that despite the obvious drawback of being shot with a sawn-off shotgun, she seems to be fine at movie's end. 

The other police guys won't listen to Robert Duvall's character because they're too smug, coked up or stupid, which means he's got to solve the case on his own. ACtually how did they not stop him on his journey? He was only walking everywhere, they'd have caught him in two minutes. 

Anyway, smug detective in a suit pisses off, a couple of cops who say that they can't do anything because of budget cuts, and some of the worst police work ever seen in a movie means that at the end it's Robert Duvall vs Michael Douglas. Michael Douglas is eventually suicided by cop. That would have been Robert Duvall's last day, and it was his first time shooting his gun. He was THIS close to retirmement, can you believe it?

Would you recommend this?Not really. It was overlong in that 90s action movie style, there were a lot of dumb cliches, and in essences it's a boomer rage movie. There's enough of that. Also, this was done better (albeit later) God Bless America, which is this done a bit better, with the obvious mental illness gone: Michael Douglas' character is obviously deranged.

Final thoughts? This wasn't very good or fun. It wasn't quite as 'on the pulse' as say 'God Save America,' and wasn't even as enjoyable in a 'normal guy turns badass' like John Wick Style. Move on, and reconsider friendship with anyone who tells you otherwise.

Ready for more of this? I'll not lie, it's dragging. More are here if you want 'em. Take care!